Samsung MP3 Player - Samsung MP3 Player Review

With Apple at the top of the MP3 player heap, it seems that other manufacturers try to compensate for their lesser position by offering more models. Creative does with more than twenty different MP3 players and Samsung is similar with twenty three current MP3 player model numbers.

Granted, some of these choices are the same player with different memory sizes. Samsung flash players usually have a 'V','X' and 'Z' suffix which means 256 MB, 512 MB and 1GB memory respectively.

Even after removing the duplicates from the lineup, you still have about 12 different models to choose from whereas Apple is offering just 3 different iPods. It is nice to have choice, but sometimes too much choice is overwhelming and confusing.

Samsung YH-J70SB MP3 Player

Having said that, Samsung does have a nice line-up of both flash and hard drive MP3 players. Their answer to the iPod 5th Generation is the YH-J70SB - 'The Intelligent Multimedia Jukebox' according to their promotional material. This player is available with either a 20 GB or 30 GB hard drive and features a 1.8" 256K color screen. A bit smaller than the iPod's but the greater color depth (only 64K on the iPod) makes for a more vivid display.

Supported audio formats include MP3, WAV and OGG. This makes Samsung one of the few manufacturers that support OGG which is an open source audio compression format that is starting to gain popularity for its good sound quality.

The supported video formats are MPEG4 and DivX, and the player can also be used to view JPEG photos. Other functions include FM radio, voice recording, equalizer and a line-in for recording external devices like CD players. The built-in lithium-ion battery is good for 25 hours of audio or 7 hours of video ? much better specs than the iPod.

Samsung YP-T8QW MP3 Player

The Samsung YP-T8QW is one of the biggest flash players on the market with 2 GB. It has got the same color display as the YH-J70SB mentioned above, and can handle all the same audio and video formats. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery has a slightly shorter playing life than the hard drive player with around 20 hours of audio and 6 hours of video.

Flash MP3 players are preferred by many people because they are more durable and offer skip free audio playback due to the lack of moving parts. The 2 GB model is sure to find market acceptance with enough storage for about 900 songs or 10 hours of video.

Samsung YP-T55 MP3 Player

Samsung also has a good selection of 'traditional' flash MP3 players. The YP-T55 model is available with 256 MB, 512 MB or 1 GB of memory and has FM radio, FM recorder, voice recorder, line-in recording and plays files in MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG audio formats. It operates on a single AAA battery that lasts for about 20 hours.

Samsung players can be used as USB computer drives, so transferring files back and forth from computer to player is a simple matter of dragging and dropping. Models with an integrated lithium-ion battery can be recharged from the USB port.

Navigation controls are well-designed and follow a logical structure so it's quite easy to find all the functions by playing with the controls for a few minutes. All the players have a digital sound processing engine that can be used to add stereo depth and other effects.

We have come to the point where all MP3 players must be examined next to the iPod, but in the case of Samsung MP3 players, they compare quite favorably with the 'i' machine. The support for OGG files is sure to be appreciated by audiophiles, and the extra features for recording give Samsung a definite edge.